TYPE WORKSHEET
1. Typing on a path can’t be any easier than it is on Illustrator. You
can type on ANY TYPE OF PATH. I am using a circle as an
example.
2. Choose the TYPE ON A PATH tool in your TYPE button of your
tool bar.
3. Click right on the line of your path and a type cursor should
appear right away.
4. Then just type away. Don’t worry about the line of
your path, once you hit the line with your type on a path tool,
it should just disappear
5. 5. Now many people don’t know but you can
definitely MOVE THE TYPE once you apply the type on the
path. Just use the MOVE TOOL on Illustrator and grab the
little cursor mark in the beginning of where you typed your
path. Make sure you have the move tool and not the type
tool.
6. Then just move it around. Bring the type inside the
circle to make the type circle around the inside of the circle
and not the outside.
7. Type inside the shape: Make another circle and then get the TYPE AREA tool.
8. Just click on the path and a type cursor should
appear just like the TYPE ON A PATH tool.
Then just type away a good paragraph or two
and look at what you can do with it!
Spiral Type is easy to make yet it is one of the most compelling text effects.
1. Select the Spiral tool ( ) by pressing L a few times until see its icon
appears in the tools palette. Now click on the work area to specify the drawing
options. You can see the settings I used below. A bigger decay value like
the one I used (the default is 80)
makes your spiral more like
encompassing circles.
2. Select the Path-Type tool ( ) by
pressing T a few times until you see its icon appear in the
tools palette. Now click on the spiral to enter something
long enough to make the spiral shape visible.
3. The result should be something like this. You can change the position and orientation of the text
by dragging the I-beam displayed at the beginning of the type. To drag, use the Direct-Selection
tool ( ).
4. If you want to add depth to your type, gradually increase or
decrease the font size. To make selections use the Path-Type tool, and
either use the Type menu or Character palette (Ctrl+T) to change the
font size of the selection. You can also change other properties such as
the spacing between letters
(tracking).
Weaving a ribbon through text
Create the text:
Create the stroke (using the brush tool, stroke of 5 point):
Select the text with the selection tool (black arrow):
Go to Object > Expand:
Go to Object > Ungroup. You won't see a visible change in the image until you use the selection
tool to select individual letters.
Hold the shift key and use the selection tool to select every other letter.
Bring the selected letters to the front with Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.
Click away from the image to deselect the letters. Adjust the position of the ribbon if necessary.